Mongolian ultranationalists are finding inspiration in the most maniacal tyrant of the 20th century who strove for Aryan purity, and The Guardian has the strange and disturbing story about Mongolian neo-Nazis.
“Their right hands rise to black-clad chests and flash out in salute to their nation: ‘Sieg heil!’ They praise Hitler’s devotion to ethnic purity.
But with their high cheekbones, dark eyes and brown skin, they are hardly the Third Reich’s Aryan ideal. A new strain of Nazism has found an unlikely home: Mongolia.
Once again, ultra-nationalists have emerged from an impoverished economy and turned upon outsiders. This time the main targets come from China, the rising power to the south.Groups such as Tsagaan Khass, or White Swastika, portray themselves as patriots standing up for ordinary citizens in the face of foreign crime, rampant inequality, political indifference and corruption.
...Though Tsagaan Khass leaders say they do not support violence, they are self-proclaimed Nazis. ‘Adolf Hitler was someone we respect. He taught us how to preserve national identity,’ said the 41-year-old co-founder, who calls himself Big Brother.‘We don’t agree with his extremism and starting the second world war. We are against all those killings, but we support his ideology. We support nationalism rather than fascism.’ It is, by any standards, an extraordinary choice. Under Hitler, Soviet prisoners of war who appeared Mongolian were singled out for execution. More recently, far-right groups in Europe have attacked Mongolian migrants.”
The U.S. State Department warns travelers about the potential for violence from the ultranationalists:
“Assaults on inter-racial couples have increased over the last few years, especially targeting foreign men with local women. These assaults range from organized attacks by nationalist groups to spontaneous incidents in bars.
Since the spring of 2010, an increased number of xenophobic attacks against foreign nationals in Ulaanbaatar has been reported to the U.S. Embassy. A number of these attacks occurred without provocation or robbery as the motive. Attackers targeted the victim(s) based solely on their ethnicity or perceived foreign nationality. Some of these attacks were directed against U.S. citizens. Additionally, nationalist groups frequently mistake Asian-Americans for ethnic Chinese or Koreans and may attack without warning or provocation. Asian-Americans should exercise caution walking the streets of Ulaanbaatar at all times.”